JAKARTA - An Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldier who was seen in a photo putting a cigarette in the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary, in a Christian village in southern Lebanon, has been sentenced to 21 days in prison.
The IDF said the incident in Debel Village was investigated by the commander of the 162nd Division, Brig. Gen. Sagiv Dahan - the officer in charge of the region at the time - and it was decided to punish the soldier with a three-week military prison sentence.
The soldier who took the photo was sentenced to two weeks, the IDF said.
The military said it viewed the incident "seriously, and respects freedom of religion and worship, as well as holy sites and religious symbols of all religions and communities."
"Procedures related to behavior towards religious institutions and religious symbols are routinely explained to troops before entering the relevant areas," the military added, launching The Times of Israel (12/5).
As previously reported, an Israeli soldier was seen putting a cigarette in the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary in a Christian village in southern Lebanon, in a photo shared online last week.
After identifying the soldier, the IDF said it would impose disciplinary sanctions.
The incident adds to a list of other incidents where video footage of Israeli soldiers - often by the troops themselves - damages or ransacks property.
Previously, the Israeli army also acted in Debel on two separate occasions. First, an Israeli soldier destroyed a statue of Jesus last month. Second, a soldier was seen in a video recording showing a military excavator damaging a solar panel.
Two soldiers involved in the destruction of the statue have been withdrawn from combat duty and punished, while the incident with the solar panels is still under investigation.
Debel, like several other Christian communities in southern Lebanon, has not been ordered by Israel to evacuate amid the fighting against Hezbollah.
Although Israel has repeatedly stressed that it values its relationship with the Christian world, the past few months have been marked by a series of embarrassing scandals and attacks on Christians that have worsened Israel's relations with the Christian community, as well as highlighting the ambiguity of existing policies.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
